Iran’s firing missiles at Deash terrorists stationed in Syria drew many reactions, including from the US military which described the attack as ‘reckless and unsafe’. Why is it so? Because the missiles fell ‘within three miles’ of US troops!

Iran launched six ballistic missiles into the Albukamal district in Syria. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said the attack targeted terrorists involved in the September 22 attack on a military parade in the southwestern city of Ahvaz.

The missile attack killed a number of militant leaders and destroyed their supplies and infrastructure, with several sources reporting that a well-known Daesh commander called Abu Ali Al-Mashhadani being killed in the attack.

The Albukamal district, which lies east of the Euphrates River, is one of Daesh last remaining positions.

A US defense official told CNN Iranian missiles that targeted eastern Syria early Monday came within three miles of US troops in the country.

“Iranian forces did conduct no notice strikes last night and we see open source reports stating that they were targeting militants it blamed for the recent attack on an Iranian military parade in the Middle Euphrates River Valley,” said Ryan in a statement. “At this time, the Coalition is still assessing if any damage occurred and no Coalition forces were in danger.”

The CNN report, titled as Iran missiles in Syria land ‘within three miles’ of US troops, aims to portray the image that the attack could have endangered US troops in Syria and that such ‘no notice’ attacks are not common and potentially could be dangerous.

In a statement sent to VOA on Monday, Pentagon spokesman Cmdr. Sean Robertson said “given the complex nature of the battle space, such strikes potentially jeopardize the forces who are actively fighting ISIS in Syria.”

While that is another issue subjected to a well debate. The question now is “what is it that the US do exactly ‘within three miles’ away from Daesh in Syria?

They themselves claim that they are fighting terrorists in the area that Iran targeted with missiles. There has been, however, no report of US forces or US-backed Kurdish forces indicating to any attack against the terrorists in Albukamal in at least the last month.

The only big news reported on the media regarding Albukamal comes from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights which alleged that at least 400 Daesh members were transferred from Albukamal to the Idlib Province in northwest Syria last week.

If the US were indeed stationed in Albukamal to fight terrorists, couldn’t they attack such terrorists who were ‘within three miles’ of them?

Very strange… Iran fired missiles at ISIS in Syria. Killed several ISIS leaders – almost killed Al-Baghdadi. US complained (!!) saying Iran was reckless, cuz the strike was within 3 miles of US troops.

But why was ISIS leader Baghdadi feeling so safe so close to US troops????

— Trita Parsi (@tparsi) October 5, 2018

The suspicious pattern of US behavior, however, is not restricted to Syria.

Last year, Russian presidential special envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said that during a meeting in New York with his US counterpart Alice Wells, he expressed his distrust regarding the issue of ‘unidentified helicopters’ in the north of Afghanistan that were transferring Daesh and their ammunition.

“Among the problems that we have, I identified the distrust that we have in connection with these mysterious helicopters transferring ISIL [Daesh] militants, their weapons, ammunition,” Kabulov said.

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A few hours after Yemeni fighters targeted Saudi oil tankers and Abu Dhabi Airport, a senior member of the Houthis’ Political Council, in an interview with Iran’s state TV, threatened that they would further expand their attacks hereafter, and if Saudi Arabia and its allies did not put a stop to their attacks on Yemen, the Yemeni fighters would target their key political, economic and military zones.

al- Deilami’s interview with Iran’s state TV is to be aired in Saturday night.

Saudi Arabia suspend all shipments of crude oil passing through the Straits of Bab El-Mandab after two giant oil tankers belonging to the Saudi National Shipping Company, each carrying two million barrels of crude oil, was attacked by the Houthi fighters in the Red Sea on Wednesday morning after crossing the Straits of Bab El-Mandeb.

On Thursday, Houthi fighters attacked Abu Dhabi’s international airport in the United Arab Emirates with a drone. In same day Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said that the country will suspend all shipments of crude oil passing through the Straits of Mandab until “navigation becomes safe”.

After Trump’s threatening Tweet against Iran and the response of President Hassan Rouhani, saying that his country will respond in the event of oil sanctions or US military attack not only in the Strait of Hormuz but also in other strategic areas of the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, Yemen’s Houthi fighters’ operations in targeting Saudi oil tankers and stopping the transit of oil exports from the Strait of Bab-el-Mandab in the Red Sea was seen as a warning from Iran’s allies to the West.

“Yemeni political and military leaders have decided to target all oil and strategic areas of Saudi Arabia and the UAE hereafter,” a member of Ansar Allah’s (Houthi) Political Council Ibrahim al-Deilami told Iran’s state TV.

Yemen’s Houthi to UN: Stop the War or It Becomes Global

“Our factories and our facilities have been razed to the ground, and our ports and airports have been destroyed, so our enemies should be assured that the status quo will not be tolerated, and no point in these two countries will be safe henceforth. From now onward, we will attack their key military, political and economic zones, and the military bases at Jeddah and Riyadh airports will not be safe from our missiles and UAVs,” al-Deilami threatened.

General Abdullah al-Jafri, a spokesman for the Houthis also said the drone attack on Abu Dhabi airport showed the movement was capable of launching attacks against vital civilian infrastructure of the Saudi-Emirati-led military coalition battling the rebels in Yemen.

“Our attack on Abu Dhabi airport shows our forces are no paper tiger like our enemies claim,” Jafri told Al-Masirah TV on the phone.

Regarding attacks on Saudi Arabia and UAE’s oil exports as a new Yemen’s strategy to counteract the invaders, Al- Deilami warned foreign companies helping Saudi Arabia and the UAE economy.

“Oil wells and foreign companies helping enemies will not be safe either, and hence the equations of war will enter a new phase”, he told Iran’s state TV.

Answering a question on possible solutions to the Yemen war he laid stress on the fact that Yemen crisis would be solved only by putting an end to the Saudi aggression against Yemen and removing the country’s siege.

Expressing disappointment with the UN intervention to end the Yemeni crisis, he warned, “For the expediency of the United Nations we say that the continuation of the Yemeni war is not in the interest of the international community. And the international community must be aware that the continuation of war endangers the interest of many countries in Europe, Asia and elsewhere.”

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Iranians were surprised last week when they saw a familiar face in a historic meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un, Persian rug, a symbol of the country’s rich history and culture on the world stage.

The photos taken during an informal meeting between the two leaders showed a red Heris rug laid in the room.
The summit has been widely regarded as a diplomatic coup for North Korea, which repeated its commitment towards denuclearisation in a joint statement.

The hand-woven Heris rugs native to Iran’s northwestern province of Azerbaijan Sharqi, a major carpet-weaving zone in Iran.

Azerbaijan Sharqi’s neighboring province of Ardabil, Isfahan in central Iran and Kerman in the country’s southeast are other major carpet-weaving zones, each having its own unique style.

Carpet weaving has a history of 2,500 years in Iran, ingrained in the country’s national identity. There are currently as many as 1 million weavers across the country, including 700,000 full-time artisans involved in the profession.  
Iranian carpets are currently exported to 80 countries, among whom the US holds a special place.

The US has long been a major market for Iran’s hand-woven carpets but unilateral US sanctions have hurt Iran’s export to the country in recent years.

The post Trump-Kim Meeting Saw an Iranian Representative first appeared on .

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says his country supports a democratic solution for the Palestinian- Israeli conflict.

“Now imagine the most cruel person of our time, the child-murderer prime minister of the Zionist Regime [Benjamin Netanyahu] goes to Europe and plays innocent, saying Iran wants to destroy them,” said Ayatollah Khamenei during his meeting with A group of university professors and researchers on June 10, 2018.

Who Wanted to Throw Israelis into the Sea?

“They are truly pioneers in oppression and cruelty throughout history. The European addressee listens and shakes his head, without mentioning their [Israel’s] crimes in Gaza and Quds,” he said adding: “The Islamic Republic acts logically on all matters. On the matter of the Zionist Regime, [Egypt’s late President] Jamal Abdul-Nasser proclaimed they would throw the Jewish people into the sea. We never made such remarks.”

“From day one, we announced a plan. We said, today democracy is a modern method that the entire world’s population agrees on. We said, for decision making on the historical country of Palestine, refer to the Palestinian people. This plan is registered with the United Nations as the statement of the Islamic Republic.”

“Those who are true Palestinians and have been living in Palestine over a hundred years ago–Muslims, Christians and Jews–where ever they are, either in the occupied lands or outside of them. They should be surveyed. Their vote should be applied.”

“Is this a bad opinion?” he asked adding: “The Europeans refuse to understand this. Then, that child-murderer, vicious oppressor plays innocent, saying Iran wants to kill several million people out of their population.”

What is Iran’s plan for Palestinian Issue?
Iran officially announced its proposed solution in 2012 during the 16th Non-Aligned Summit in Tehran.
Iran suggests that all current and former inhabitants of the Palestinian territory should participate in a referendum and decide about their fate and future. Iran’s leader described the country’s suggestion in his Inaugural Speech at the 16th Non-Aligned Summit.

“All the Palestinians – both the current citizens of Palestine and those who have been forced to immigrate to other countries but have preserved their Palestinian identity, including Muslims, Christians and Jews – should take part in a carefully supervised and confidence-building referendum and chose the political system of their country, and all the Palestinians who have suffered from years of exile should return to their country and take part in this referendum and then help draft a Constitution and hold elections. Peace will then be established,” he said during his speech in 2012.
Read Iran’s View’s detailed report about the solutions for the Palestinian- Israeli conflict suggested by different parties.

The post Israeli- Palestinian Conflict: Iran Offers a Practical, Democratic Solution first appeared on .

After three years, Iran’s intelligence forces reveal how meticulously they have been following up the operation of rescuing Iranian sailors from the captivity of pirates in Somalia, and how important it was, for their operation, to be kept secret until sailors’ arrival to Tehran.
Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi said on Thursday that his ministry’s agents secured the fishermen’s release through a long process and despite tight security controls by the pirates.

The sailors Masoud Balouchi, Ahmad Balouchi, Adam Balouchi and Shir-Mohammad Tabezar, kidnapped three years ago in international waters near Somalia were welcomed by Alavi in Tehran on Thursday.

An Iranian intelligence expert who spoke to Iran’s View on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operation, brought light to some details of Iranian intelligence efforts during the past three years. Since Iran’s Intelligence officials rarely, if ever, promote and publicize their successful operations, interviews as such showcase Iran’s capabilities and strengths, especially in a region predominantly under control of United States’ and Israel’s intelligence forces, who for long have bragged about their successes in fight against terrorism.

Oversea Counterintelligence Operations Against US 

In fact, Iran has shown deeper roots and further expanded network in fight against terrorism in Africa, according to the fore mentioned intelligence official, who stated Iran’s intelligence forces have previously secured Iranian citizens’ safety in different occasions. 

The Iranian intelligence expert told Iran’s View–under conditions of anonymity–they have been able to secure the release of the country’s nationals captured in different parts of the world. However, these operations are usually shrouded in secrecy not publicized in mainstream media. In some cases, the forces could also secure the release of Iranians captured by the US over alleged sanction-busting attempts.

In an interview with Jam e Jam news paper, four recently-rescued sailors’ have shared the sorrow of losing eight other friends and relatives during hunger and torture and have shown their tortured bodies, burnt skins, marks of broken bones, and pulled out teeth to the camera, and amidst all this sorrow, they have also shared their deep and tremendous thankfulness to their rescuers, as their freedom has seemed out of the horizon to them, for a very long time. Being so not aware of news, politics, and current world, the sailors even thanked the deceased Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani for their freedom, and wished him health, upon their arrival in the airport, according to Jam-e-Jam’s interview.

Diplomatic Bids Failed

“The fishermen’s boat got captivated by Somalian pirates in March 2015, 460 kilometers away from Somalian shore. We started our efforts to set the captivated sailors free since then.” Iranian intelligence official expert on the case said.

The Intelligence expert said the ministry started its overseas operation after attempts through diplomatic channels were not making any progress.

The intelligence operation for the release of the sailors was highly challenging as the sailors were not held by a government or an official organization, he said.

Unsuccessful Prisoner Swap

The expert added that the Intelligence Ministry arranged a prisoner swap with one of the pirates’ leaders to free the four fishermen but that plan hit the wall when the pirates did not show up at the arranged rendezvous.

The Iranian Navy has been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden where Somali pirates frequently attacked ships since November 2008 to safeguard maritime traffic, especially for the country’s ships and oil tankers.

During their safeguard operations, the Iranian navy thwarted several hijacking attempts by the pirates and captured some them.

In 2017 we arranged a prisoner swap with one of the pirates’ leaders to give back four imprisoned pirates and set the sailors free but that plan was aborted as the captors did not show up.
The operation was conducted by the Intelligence Ministry in close collaboration with the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)–the commando arm of forces which is in charge of overseas operations, he told the daily.

Tanzania Operation

The official continued: “In the second stage we sent a team from Tanzania to the region to rescue the sailors by sea. A fishing boat was chosen to conduct the mission off the coast of to Kismayo peninsula in southeastern Somalia.
But the ship movements were restricted after it became clear that US drone are conducting reconnaissance operation in the area over suspected Al-Qaeda activities.

The mission was finally called off after the ship’s manouvering ability in the area were heavily restricted by the US drones’ presence, the intelligence official said, highlighting the fact that the operation could be severely damaged if the US became aware of it.

Finally, we operated on the ground and sat our captivated sailors free from the hands of the pirates. Due to the complexity of the return process we didn’t let sailors contact their families during the operation and until they landed in Iran we didn’t announce the news.”

The post Exclusive: Iran’s Thrilling Hostage Rescue Operation in Africa Detailed first appeared on .

Iran’s Special Operations forces conducted a secret raid to rescue four Iranian hostages in Somalia.

Iranian hostages were four fishermen taken captive by pirates in international waters near Somalia in 2015.

“Iranian intelligence agents successfully rescued the fishermen through an intelligence-operational plan and brought them back to homeland,” reads a statement released by Iranian Intelligence Ministry.

The fishermen were all Sunni Muslims from the southeastern Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan.

The post Iran special ops forces rescue hostages in Somalia first appeared on .

Argentina have cancelled their planned friendly against Israel in Jerusalem following intense pressure by Palestinian and international campaigners heightened by last month’s killing by Israeli forces of dozens of protesters in Gaza.

Israeli embassy has confirmed that the match has been called off, citing threats to Argentina captain Lionel Messi.

“The Israeli embassy laments to announce the suspension of the match between Israel and Argentina planned for next Saturday June 9, as a prelude to the game for the World Cup in Russia,” read a statement.

Middle East Eye reports that the decision was welcomed by Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain, one of the country’s highest-profile players, in an interview with the ESPN television network on Tuesday.

“They’ve finally done the right thing,” Higuain said. “Rationale and health come before everything else. We think its best not go to Israel.”

The Palestinian Football Association also welcomed the decision, and thanked Lionel Messi, Argentina’s star player who had become the focus of campaigners’ efforts to stop the match, and his teammates for the cancellation.

“Values, morals and sport have secured a victory today and a red card was raised at Israel through the cancellation of the game,” Jibril Rajoub, the president of the PFA, said in a statement.

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), the campaign group which had driven the push to persuade Argentina to withdraw, also thanked the Argentine squad in a tweet which said: “Apartheid will not be entertained.”

Argentina has made four previous pre-World Cup stopovers in Israel since 1986. Most countries do not recognise either Israeli or Palestinian sovereignty in Jerusalem and have their embassies to Israel in the Tel Aviv area.

The post Argentina Cancels Israel World Cup 2018 Warm-up Friendly first appeared on .

The sanctions announced by the US Treasury Department on Thursday, targeted the entities cooperating with Iran’s Mahan Air, Caspian Air, Meraj Air, Pouya Air and Dena Air, which operates the airplane Iranian President Rouhani uses for his official travels.

According to Bourseandbazaar, an Iranian business news site, Dena Airways is the company which operates EP-DAA, an Airbus A340. Until November 2017, the aircraft was registered to Meraj Airways, an entity that was previously sanctioned as part of the Specially Designated Nationals list, known as the SDN list.

In Early February, German fuel companies refused to refuel Iranian foreign minister’s plane out of fear they would violate US sanctions against Iran.
The incident almost prevented Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif from attending the Munich Security Conference.

The US also imposed sanctions against nine Iranian and Turkish individuals and companies after President Trump withdraw from the nuclear deal between Iran and five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany. Under the deal, US was obligated to avoid imposing new sanctions against Iran.

The post US Bans Iranian Presidential Aircraft first appeared on .

Dr. Mahtan Pirouzmand, the head of the research team, said the team has managed to produce biodiesel through synthesis of nano-structured catalysts.

“In this project, we managed to synthesize nano-structured catalysts to provide a new method for turning used cooking oil to an affordable biodiesel,” she said.

Pirouzmand said results of the project showed biodiesel produced from waste cooking oil could be a cheap replacement for diesel made from fossil fuels.

Biodiesel can be used safely in any diesel-powered engine, be it a bus or a truck.

It is desirable as an alternative to petroleum fuel, as it used renewable resources that are less damaging to the environment to produce and emit less harmful greenhouse gasses when burned as fuel.

A variety of feedstock containing fatty acids, such as vegetable oils or animal fats, has been evaluated for the production of biodiesel. But the high price of vegetable oil ruled out its use for making bio-diesel.

Waste cooking oil is, therefore, the preferred source because it is an environmental waste generated in tones worldwide.

There have been efforts since 2006 to use non-edible or waste cooking oils as feedstock for biodiesel production, but such processes have so far remained complicated and expensive.

The post Waste Cooking Oil Could be Used to Produce Cheap Biodiesel Thanks to Nanotechnology first appeared on .

India and Israel have had friendly ties for many years, but the rapid expansion of these ties, especially in military and intelligence areas, has become a source of concern for Muslim countries.

Given India’s history of defending Palestinians’ rights within the framework of the Non-Aligned Movement, there is the hope that the negotiations of Iranian officials during Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s recent visit to New Delhi could persuade India to maintain a balance in its ties with the Israel and Muslim countries.

Rouhani’s three-day visit to India from February 15 took place shortly after the Israeli premier’s trip to India, as well as the visit of the Indian prime minister to Israel and was the first visit by an Iranian president to the country since Ahmadinejad’s three-hour stay stopover in 2008. During Rouhani’s trip, a number of important agreements were signed. This comes as the Indians did not have a satisfactory performance in their economic relations with the Islamic Republic.

Rouhani began his journey from Hyderabad, an important city with more than 30 percent of Muslim population with a history of political and cultural influence by Iran. Over there, the Iranian president held a meeting with Muslim scholars at the Friday prayers of the Sunni-majority city and delivered a sermon among the worshippers.

Rouhani in India wished that the relations between Tehran and Delhi would once again be warm and close as in the time of the two countries’ ancestors. He, of course, took the first step towards fulfiling this wish with his presence in Hyderabad and visiting historical works inspired by Iranian culture and consulting with Indian Muslims. In this city, he emphasized the Islamic Republic’s desire to expand cultural ties with India.

A consultative meeting with Muslim scholars and the emphasis of the Iranian president on the history of the cultural and Islamic ties between the two countries had another strategic message for India. In fact, Iran, as one of the most important Muslim countries with a long history of presence in India, can help resolve the long-standing conflicts between Pakistan and India and reduce the negative security implications of the conflicts in the region.

In terms of economic relations, specialists believe India’s delay in implementing the Chabahar port development project had a negative message for the Iranians, confirming the analyses that Delhi believes its future ties with Tehran would be shaped by the decisions of the US.

The Chabahar project is currently in progress, and during Rouhani’s visit to India, 15 cooperation agreements were also signed by the two countries’ high-ranking officials.

However, taking into consideration the capacities of the two countries for cooperation, one can say the economic relations between Iran and India are not close enough.

This article was first published on IFP.

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